60s semi detached facelift
We’re looking to update our 1960s semi and will be adding an extension over the garage to gain a fourth bedroom plus converting the garage to a study.
The porch is an odd shape and there’s some pretty bad cladding under the living room window.
Does anyone have any advice/ideas on how to give it a bit of a facelift and some much needed kerb appeal.
Ps. I hate the block paving drive!
Comments (6)
Sonia
3 years agoA good architect should be able to improve the frontage along with your extension. I agree the wonky porch is very odd! Also the problem with block paving is the huge amount of weeds seeds that plant themselves in the grout, a real nightmare. My sister recently had her drive covered in resin gravel and it looks amazing. She left a sweeping border on one side which she has planted with plants from Morrison’s. I think that would look nice. Not her drive but similar
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How do I make this look better?
Comments (44)For a quick, easy and cheap facelift you'll be amazed how far a clean-up alone will go. Jet wash the wall and the driveway setts. Put a lick of paint on the ironwork, black would definitely be good. Brush in fresh kiln-dried sand between the setts. Prune back those sad looking shrubs before they get back into growth, which will be any time now. Don't cut back those firs, they will not grow back and are likely to just die. If you do anything at all with them, get rid and plant something which grows more happily in this country. It's a low definition photo so I can't see the state of the lawn or whether the wall needs re-pointing. Look yourself and treat accordingly. That alone will lift the place sufficiently to give you breathing space. Then you can think through what budget you have left and which of the many ideas available you prefer and can prioritise accordingly. On the other hand, whatever you do will not look good while all that looks scruffy and unloved....See MoreCurb appeal needed!
Comments (7)I would - - Clean the bricks, or paint them white or cream; - Remove the slate from the facade (replace with render if needed); - Remove the plastic bars from inside the windows; - Install a minimalist, dark green or teal front door with a translucent glass side panel; - Plant short, smart trees where you currently have bushes (or rose bushes would look lovely); - Paint the grey concrete patch on the front; - Replace the brick paving and steps with patterned tiles; - Add in some potted plants and phased lighting....See MoreRenovating a 1960's 3 bed semi - help with layout and kerb appeal!
Comments (65)Hi all, Thank you so much for all the helpful comments and suggestions, and sorry that it's taken me so long to respond - house renovation and work have been keeping us on our toes! This has become a long post, so a quick reminder - we were looking to renovate and rewire our 60s house to update it and also make it more wheelchair friendly downstairs for when my mother-in-law comes to visit. We employed an architect and came up with what turned out to be an 'aspirational' design (much more than the budget!) so we ended up deciding to split things into two stages: Stage One to add a downstairs wetroom for accessibility, remove chimney throughout and add a porch Stage Two to do the extension across the rear, removing the conservatory to open out a large kitchen/diner and add a utility room The layout below shows both Stages One and Two as complete. Bits shown in red are existing walls which have been/will be removed (apart from the wall in red in the seating area below which is between the existing kitchen and dining room - that's a mistake). So.....the building work is now done - hurray! Stage One is complete, we are much poorer, and we now need to decorate the whole house :-) Some before and after photos below - please bear with the terrible photography skills. The rooms aren't big enough to allow for expansive photos!: We've re-plastered throughout, apart from in the kitchen and upstairs bathroom, as we'll deal with those later. Current challenge is deciding how on earth to pick paint colours and flooring throughout.... Anyway - hopefully that gives you a sense of where we've got to. Best wishes...See MoreHelp choosing the right design for external facelift
Comments (47)I think the long stairs window suits this house and personally I would change the proportions of the window to the left of the front door.... as you now seem to have done. I’m not sure that a living roof suits the front of this house and I would rather see a plain and modern flat roof. However softening the frontage with planting could look super...See MoreEmma Pollard
3 years agoSonia
3 years agoEmma Pollard
3 years agoI’d like to do something like this and render the front. If we did would it be necessary to render the rest (side and back?)
Chioma Caster
3 years ago
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